RWBY Relationship Week 2014
by twistedwonderland101
Summary: A compilation of the short stories that I wrote for last year's week long semi-crack ship event in the RWBY fandom on Tumblr. Relationships may vary from those of the romantic caliber, platonic friendship, or even the more violent kind.


"_Here to Listen…"_

Relationship: Platonic (Can be seen as romance, if you squint)

Word Count: 1,436

**Summary: Ruby dwells on how distant Blake has been after their second encounter with Torchwick in Vale. Aggravated about not knowing what to do, an unlikely person, Neptune Vasilias, takes notice of her distress, sits down and offers the disgruntled leader of Team RWBY a shoulder to lean on.**

* * *

Ruby let out an agitated groan. She was slumped against one of the many clothed tables that were situated around the ballroom that would be the venue for the upcoming dance, strategically placing herself at the furthermost corner so she wouldn't get in either Yang or Weiss's way as they decorated the room (and bickered) for the event, and so she could sulk in peace.

The fact that Blake wasn't planning on attending the dance was still weighing on her mind like a perpetual rain cloud. She knew Blake wanted to focus more on the investigation on Torchwick and the White Fang – heck, she even admired her for her dedication – but she could obviously see how much stress her teammate was putting herself through. A night off would do her good, but how can she get Blake to realize this without getting her angry?

Another groan escaped from the bottom of Ruby's very soul as she mulled over her Blake predicament.

"Whoa. Something must really be bothering you if you make a sound like that."

She immediately shot upright. Neptune – Sun's friend and teammate, she remembered – was standing across from her, arms crossed and back slightly leaned back, looking cool, as usual.

"Oh… Hey, Neptune," Ruby greeted the blue-haired boy, lacking her characteristic energy. "How's it going?"

Neptune made a low whistle. "Okay. Now I know something's bothering you." Without missing a beat, he took a seat right across from Ruby's so that he faced the younger huntress-in-training. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It seems kind of stupid…"

"Hey," Neptune smiled at her. "I'm all ears."

Ruby's silver eyes glanced over Neptune, looking for any sign that he could be making fun of her. She found none. He honestly wanted to know what was weighing down in her mind despite them not really knowing each other for that long. She supposed fighting off a giant, highly weaponized robot in the middle of the night against school curfew was enough of a bonding moment for anyone.

"It's Blake," she said, training her eyes onto the palms of her hands. "She's practically been working herself ragged lately after that night where we fought Torchwick in his battle armor machine. She hasn't been sleeping properly, she's gotten _extremely_ grumpy lately – I'm afraid that she might just drop dead from exhaustion any second now."

Neptune simply nodded his head, focusing entirely on Ruby. "I see…"

"And I know it's stupid for me to say this since this was all _my idea_ in the first place, but I just want her to take a breather for one night. Y'know? I just… I just want Blake to have one night to herself where she doesn't have to worry about Torchwick, or the White Fang, or _anything._ Just one night of her having fun with the team and her friends is all I ask and then she can return back to her investigatory work. But after her outburst this afternoon with Sun, I just…" Ruby sighed, her head hung low. "I just don't know."

"Yeah, I saw that little exchange." Neptune winced. "It wasn't pretty, that's for sure. She turned Sun down pretty harshly. He was pretty bummed after that. Sage and Scarlet had to try to get his spirits back up and everything."

Ruby blinked. "Who?"

"Our other teammates – Sage and Scarlet," Neptune explained. "You haven't met them yet, but their pretty cool."

"Oh."

Ruby still remembered the disheartened look on Sun's face after Blake turned him flat down when he asked her, albeit in a cute, evasive, shy kind of way, to be his date for the dance. She never thought she'd ever see the male monkey faunus look so defeated. Ruby could almost say the same thing about Blake. Yeah, she's seen her friend get angry before – it happened back at the end of their first semester, when they had just had a run in with Sun when he was still just known as a stowaway to her and everybody else on Team RWBY. Blake arguing with Weiss back in their dormitory had been the angriest Ruby has ever seen her been. But at least at that time, Blake's rage had a reason. The outburst she had with Sun, however, was more sporadic and reflexive. Sort of how Ruby acts whenever Yang unnecessarily babied over her.

"But hey, don't sweat it."

Ruby looked over at Neptune with a confused look on her face. "Huh?"

Neptune grinned. "Don't worry about it," he repeated. "Didn't you hear your sister a while ago? She said she'll make sure Blake ends up going to the dance tonight. She has a plan, so there's no need for you to beat yourself up over this."

"But what if Blake still says 'No'?" Ruby sighed. "What if she stays behind at the dorms while the dance goes on? I don't want to attend if that happens. I don't want to leave her alone."

For a moment, Neptune said nothing. Instead, his ocean blue eyes just looked at her, almost like he was trying to observe her, or figure her out as if she were a puzzle that he couldn't quite solve. Then, there was twinkle in his eye. "You really care about your friends, huh." He said – sounding more like he was stating a fact instead of asking a question.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Neptune smiled warmly at her. The look on his face showed that he certainly learned something new about the small hooded girl who sat before him. "Well, if Yang's plan should fail and Blake ends up not going to the dance, you could always go back to your dorm and stay with her. But," he laughed nervously, "I doubt whatever your sister has in mind to convince Blake would crash and burn. Your sister can be _pretty_ persuasive."

Ruby snorted. "Boy do I know that."

The two of them shared a laugh as they each thought back to a particular memory of a certain fiery blond young woman showing just how persuasive she could be. Though the time frame of the memory they thought of greatly differed, it still happened in the same venue and to the same particular club owner.

"What about you?"

"Huh?" Neptune ceased his chuckling and focused back on Ruby, who looked at him with a smile on her face and the energetic sparkle back in her eyes.

"What about you?" She repeated. "Are you going to the dance?"

Neptune smirked.

"Ruby Rose," he said her name teasingly. "Are you asking me out to the dance?"

"_What!?_" Immediately, Ruby's faced bloomed into the exact same shade of red as her cape, coaxing another string of laughter from her blue-haired companion. She sputtered with embarrassment. "No! I'm not! I was just asking if you were planning on going yourself!"

The young huntress-in-training crossed her arms and haughtily turned away from Neptune, grumbling under her breath about "stupid boys" and about how "That'll be the last time I'll ever casually ask a guy if he's going somewhere."

Neptune snickered. "Alright, I'm sorry. That wasn't funny." Yet he's still laughing. "But to answer your question – yes. I'm going to the dance. Probably not Sage and Scarlet though – not their kind of party. But Sun's definitely going. Blake's rejection isn't going to keep him from getting his party on."

"Really?" Ruby asked.

He shook his head. "Actually, I really had to convince Sun. I told him that it's the perfect chance to hang out with friends. Better that than him sulking for the rest of the night."

"I see." Suddenly, Ruby smirked. She slightly leaned over the table just so she could jab at Neptune's arm playfully as she said, "So am I going to see you getting your "_party on"_?"

Neptune blushed, which was funny to see since the pink hue on his cheeks just stuck out plainly on his tan skin. He laughed nervously, eyes quickly darting away from Ruby. "Uh, probably not. I, um, don't really dance, y'know."

Ruby giggled. "Yeah, I can relate. 'm not much of a dancer either. But hey, if you ever want to hang out during the whole thing, you can find me near the punch bowl in the corner for the socially awkward."

Neptune chuckled. "I'll keep that offer in mind, Ruby."

Just as Neptune got up from his seat and turned to leave, Ruby called out to him. "Hey, Neptune?"

He turned back around. "Yeah?"

A shy smile stretched across the young girl's face. "Thanks for listening to me go on and on about…stuff."

"Anytime, Ruby."


End file.
